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I have a spare link slot though on the nav bar that I was going to use for a links page..

However I am just not sure about whether I want to have a links page. What are your opinions on them ?

I think they look unproffesional, BUT I know they can contribute to a large amount of traffic. So what should I do ? I don't have a huge space available for loads of links so what should I do ? Just pick say what I think are the 10 best sites and see if I can swap links woth them ?

Depends if they link back...
From past experience, dont bother linking to sites that are alot better than yours.. you know how good your site is, and so do your visitors... if the site is on the same topic and has better resources, the visitor will probably click the link and never come back to your site

I think links pages can help sites grow their audience at first. I would make the rule that sites have to link back to you if you link to them and try to keep the links highly-targetted and no unneeded ones. Good luck.

Commish : Its not so much the blank space, sure i know i could fill it in, but it was the links page think that was buggin me.

I mean do I really want to drive traffic from my site ? I think James 86 had the right idea.. Carefull chosen links perhaps would be good. Perhaps just 3 or 4 on 2 or 3 different parts of my topic, say 12 in total..

I already do the marketing for a site with a simular topic and they get lots of traffic from links. Perhaps I'll chose trhe 12 biggest referals

I use my links page for some affiliate programs (my site's about dating, so some links to personals ad sites help pay the bills!), some sites I know my visitors would enjoy, sites of my friends, and sites that have linked back to me.

I wouldn't recommend a free-for-all links page, but a handful of well-chosen links can't hurt.

Originally posted by Lorina I use my links page for some affiliate programs (my site's about dating, so some links to personals ad sites help pay the bills!), some sites I know my visitors would enjoy, sites of my friends, and sites that have linked back to me.

I wouldn't recommend a free-for-all links page, but a handful of well-chosen links can't hurt.

Good thing you brought that up. While FFA link pages are easier on the webmaster, I don't recommend them. Too many spam them and you don't want that. If the site you plan to link to is truly good enough, you should have the energy to link to them.